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This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading.

The Toyota Production System is a paradox. On the one hand, every activity, connection, and production flow in a Toyota factory is rigidly scripted. Yet at the same time, Toyota's operations are enormously flexible and responsive to customer demand. How can that be? After an extensive four-year study of the system in more than 40 plants, the authors came to understand that at Toyota it's the very rigidity of the operations that makes the flexibility possible. That's because the company's operations can be seen as a continuous series of controlled experiments. Whenever Toyota defines a specification, it is establishing a hypothesis that is then tested through action. This approach--the scientific method--is not imposed on workers, it's ingrained in them. And it stimulates them to engage in the kind of experimentation that is widely recognized as the cornerstone of a learning organization. The Toyota Production System grew out of the workings of the company over 50 years, and it has never actually been written down. Making the implicit explicit, the authors lay out four principles that show how Toyota sets up all its operations as experiments and teaches the scientific method to its workers. The first rule governs the way workers do their work. The second, the way they interact with one another. The third governs how production lines are constructed. And the last, how people learn to improve. Every activity, connection, and production path designed according to these rules must have built-in tests that signal problems immediately. And it is the continual response to those problems that makes this seemingly rigid system so flexible and adaptive to changing circumstances.

learning objective:

To articulate and apply the four tacit rules that make the Toyota production system successful.

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This is an enhanced edition of HBR article 99509, originally published in September 1999. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article plus a summary of key ideas and company examples to help you quickly absorb and apply the concepts.

The Toyota Production System is a paradox. On the one hand, every activity, connection, and production flow in a Toyota factory is rigidly scripted. Yet at the same time, Toyota's operations are enormously flexible and responsive to customer demand. How can that be? After an extensive four-year study of the system in more than 40 plants, the authors came to understand that at Toyota it's the very rigidity of the operations that makes the flexibility possible. That's because the company's operations can be seen as a continuous series of controlled experiments. Whenever Toyota defines a specification, it is establishing a hypothesis that is then tested through action. This approach--the scientific method--is not imposed on workers, it's ingrained in them. And it stimulates them to engage in the kind of experimentation that is widely recognized as the cornerstone of a learning organization. The Toyota Production System grew out of the workings of the company over 50 years, and it has never actually been written down. Making the implicit explicit, the authors lay out four principles that show how Toyota sets up all its operations as experiments and teaches the scientific method to its workers. The first rule governs the way workers do their work. The second, the way they interact with one another. The third governs how production lines are constructed. And the last, how people learn to improve. Every activity, connection, and production path designed according to these rules must have built-in tests that signal problems immediately. And it is the continual response to those problems that makes this seemingly rigid system so flexible and adaptive to changing circumstances.

learning objective:

To articulate and apply the four tacit rules that make the Toyota production system successful.

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This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading.

Today, you are about as safe in a U.S. hospital as you would be parachuting off a bridge or a building. But it doesn't have to be that way. Right now, some hospitals are making enormous short-term improvements, with no legislation or market reconfiguration and little or no capital investment. Instead of waiting for sweeping changes in market mechanisms, these institutions are taking an operations approach to patient care. In case after detailed case, this article describes how doctors, nurses, technicians, and managers are radically increasing the effectiveness of patient care and dramatically lowering its cost by applying the same capabilities in operations design and improvement that drive the famous Toyota Production System. They are removing ambiguity in the output, responsibilities, connections, and methods of their work processes. These changes--which can be done in the course of an ordinary workday, sometimes in a matter of hours--are designed to make the following crystal clear: Which patient gets which procedure (output)? Who does which aspect of the job (responsibility)? Exactly which signals are used to indicate that the work should begin (connection)? And, precisely how is each step carried out (method)? Equally important, managers are being transformed from rescuers who arrive with ready-made solutions into problem solvers who help colleagues learn the experimental method. Thus, these hospitals are breaking free of the work-around culture that routinely obscures the root causes of so many problems, creates so much waste, and leads to so many unnecessary deaths.

learning objective:

To become familiar with a powerful approach to improving health care delivery based on Toyota's famed process improvement system.

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All complex systems have four distinct hierarchical design levels: system objectives, architecture, interfaces, and components. Each level has a distinct design question associated with it. Distinguishing among these levels and understanding the questions associated with each offers insight into the evolution of products and markets as well as the principles by which organizations should be structured to accomplish each task. The first section of the note contains examples that illustrate the four levels of complex-product design and how each level cascades naturally to the next. The second section discusses the implications of the hierarchy in terms of project management, product evolution, and market evolution. The third section introduces the idea that a similar framework of hierarchical design levels can be used when thinking about the design of complex processes.

learning objective:

To familiarize students with the hierarchical nature of complex systems.

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This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading.

Many companies have tried to copy Toyota's famous production system--but without success. Part of the reason why, says the author, is that imitators fail to recognize the underlying principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS), focusing instead on specific tools and practices. This article tells the other part of the story. Building on a previous HBR article, "Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System," Spear explains how Toyota inculcates managers with TPS principles. He describes the training of a star recruit--a talented young American destined for a high-level position at one of Toyota's U.S. plants. Rich in detail, the story offers four basic lessons for any company wishing to train its managers to apply Toyota's system--rather than go through the cursory walk-throughs, orientations, and introductions of most companies. First, there's no substitute for direct observation. Toyota employees are encouraged to observe failures as they occur--for example, by sitting next to a machine on the assembly line and waiting and watching for any problems. Second, proposed changes should always be structured as experiments. Employees embed explicit and testable assumptions in the analysis of their work. That allows them to examine the gaps between predicted and actual results. Third, workers and managers should experiment as frequently as possible. The company teaches employees at all levels to achieve continuous improvement through quick, simple experiments rather than through lengthy, complex ones. Finally, managers should coach, not fix. Toyota managers act as enablers, directing employees but not telling them where to find opportunities for improvements.

learning objective:

To learn a disciplined process for training leaders in the Toyota production system.

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Jack Smith had a stellar career at Chrysler managing major design teams and manufacturing plants before deciding to join industry leader and benchmark Toyota. It is his first day on the job; what will his orientation entail? Cursory walkthroughs and introductions before assignment to a job commensurate with his experience and accomplishments or something else to help him acclimate to Toyota's unique management approach?

learning objective:

To think deeply about corporate acculturation, capability development, and the role of managers in complex organizations where improvement and problem solving are critical to success.

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description

Jack Smith had a stellar career at Chrysler managing major design teams and manufacturing plants before deciding to join industry leader and benchmark Toyota. It is his first day on the job; what will his orientation entail? Cursory walkthroughs and introductions before assignment to a job commensurate with his experience and accomplishments or something else to acclimate him to Toyota's unique management approach?

learning objective:

To think deeply about corporate acculturation, capability development, and the role of managers in complex organizations where improvement and problem solving are critical to success.

Source:

Product number:

Length:

Also Available in:

description

Jack Smith had a stellar career at Chrysler managing major design teams and manufacturing plants before deciding to join industry leader and benchmark Toyota. It is his first day on the job; what will his orientation entail? Cursory walkthroughs and introductions before assignment to a job commensurate with his experience and accomplishments or something else to acclimate him to Toyota's unique management approach?

learning objective:

To think deeply about corporate acculturation, capability development, and the role of managers in complex organizations where improvement and problem solving are critical to success.

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